Another giant android, the 5.5" Optimus By Lg gets released while rumor sites report apple is working on a smaller cheaper iPhone with a snap dragon chip set to start manufacturing next month.I can't say enough times how apple is missing the boat by not reacting quickly enough to the big screen market,

Path is still moving forward, a few months back when I was having issues with Facebook I discovered Path. I really liked it and got some of my friends to try it too.... After a week or two it just kind of wilted on the vine. I still have it on my iPhone but just like all social media upstarts it just did not have the magic sauce that would compel people to leave FB. What is that special sauce you may ask? Well I imagine there are thousands of opinions out there but mine is simple. There is no wall..... It is hard to imagine a company being able to patent a wall but some how Facebook must have figured out a way because every upstart avoids that feature. In my opinion Path could be a viable alternative to FB but if they are serious they need to compete directly and let the courts sort out the rest.Here is their PR release

Today we are excited to introduce Path 3. We have added private messaging – the Path take on it – that we hope will help you feel like talking in person, with a hand on your arm, seeing a friend’s scrunched nose, wide smile. That it might make you laugh out loud.

One-to-one and group messaging is made for the smaller, more personal conversations that you want to have on Path. It includes text, voice, location, stickers, songs, books, movies, photos, and videos. There’s utility and context. For example, if you’re running late, you can tap the location button to let a friend know where you are. Or if you don’t have free hands to type, you can record a voice message.

It seems like everyone is jumping into the music streaming business. Pandora and spotify have made a splash and now google is getting ready to leverage YouTube for their entry. Reports out this morning say apple is eyeing another acquisition in the streaming biz... Which they have been doing for several years if you look back. So anyway... My take: I still like to own my music and any services that emerges need to be free and well integrated with car stereo systems ;) The car is where I rock

Most of the rumor sites are in agreement this morning that the redesigned IPad to match the iPad mini form factor will be released in April. Additional comments indicate the Mini will get a minor spec bump instead of the rumored retina display. Apple seems to be moving to an every six month upgrade cycle for the iPads. Meanwhile latest iPhone 5s rumors point to an August release.

Thank you for sharing your views on cell phone unlocking with us through your petition on our We the People platform. Last week the White House brought together experts from across government who work on telecommunications, technology, and copyright policy, and we're pleased to offer our response.

The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren't bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It's common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers' needs.

This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs -- even if it isn't the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility.

The White House's position detailed in this response builds on some critical thinking done by the President's chief advisory Agency on these matters: the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). For more context and information on the technical aspects of the issue, you can review the NTIA's letter to the Library of Congress' Register of Copyrights (.pdf), voicing strong support for maintaining the previous exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for cell phone carrier unlocking.

Contrary to the NTIA's recommendation, the Librarian of Congress ruled that phones purchased after January of this year would no longer be exempted from the DMCA. The law gives the Librarian the authority to establish or eliminate exceptions -- and we respect that process. But it is also worth noting the statement the Library of Congress released today on the broader public policy concerns of the issue. Clearly the White House and Library of Congress agree that the DMCA exception process is a rigid and imperfect fit for this telecommunications issue, and we want to ensure this particular challenge for mobile competition is solved.

So where do we go from here?

The Obama Administration would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.

We also believe the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with its responsibility for promoting mobile competition and innovation, has an important role to play here. FCC Chairman Genachowski today voiced his concern about mobile phone unlocking (.pdf), and to complement his efforts, NTIA will be formally engaging with the FCC as it addresses this urgent issue.

Finally, we would encourage mobile providers to consider what steps they as businesses can take to ensure that their customers can fully reap the benefits and features they expect when purchasing their devices.

We look forward to continuing to work with Congress, the wireless and mobile phone industries, and most importantly you -- the everyday consumers who stand to benefit from this greater flexibility -- to ensure our laws keep pace with changing technology, protect the economic competitiveness that has led to such innovation in this space, and offer consumers the flexibility and freedoms they deserve.

I spent part of the day yesterday playing Real Racing 3. I was impressed, both graphics and gameplay rival consoles and in a word it's just fun!. The game is free however real racing is true to its name... Ie if you don't want to pay for instant access then you have to wait for mechanics to do your upgrades between races... Weird but it does do it in the background so you can surf the web while you wait ;).... The game will notify you when your car is ready.

Competition may be heating up between android and IOS but one thing seems for sure, Apple is poised to dominate in the education market. Arkansas State University is just one of many that have been experimenting with iPads over the last couple of years and now they are going to require all incoming students have one. Scott's take: it is quite simply a great learning tool and it could be argued that other tablets are just not robust enough for education duty, might change later but the early bird gets the bookworm ;)The public school systems should embrace this and covert all textbooks, not only is it cheaper for them in the long term but also provides our kids with the most current information available

It's all rumor of course but china sources point to the release of the iPhone 5s and a cheaper polycarbonate iPhone in August 2013. The photo above is a instapaper mock up of what the current iphone5 would look like next to the much rumored IPhone Plus. There was no mention of this product and I am starting to wonder if that rumor is DOA. I am still holding out hope since the Galaxy S4 is set to make a splash later this month. The big rumored IPhone is what I want, wake up Apple!

Google released a new ios youtube app today that incorporates beaming, which as I understand it is googles answer to apples airplay. The feature has been available on android for a while but the amount of tvs on the market that support the protocol is limited. The beaming can be set up though to work through playstations and the xbox. . Apples airplay works through the 99.00 appletv accessory. My take: Options are good and it is useful to stream to your tv from the phone. I personally do not use it for youtube but I do use airplay to playback videos recently recorded on my iphone, it is very convenient and the quality is excellent. So the feature on the iphone is pretty redundant but I imagine it is all part of googles plan for world domination. :)